


break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored

by bonestilts (orphan_account)



Series: the loco-motion [5]
Category: Actor RPF, Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Joe just wants to impress his parents / he has a fear of disappointing them any further, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, he's probably not as chill as he plays himself off to be, probably bed sharing and all that shazam, rami's in for the wild ride, you know the drill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 21:56:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18107258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bonestilts
Summary: “This might be super weird, and it’s totally cool if you say no, but I was uh—““Interest is wavering.”Joe swallows quickly, “Was wondering if you would come back to mine for Thanksgiving, with… me.”Rami looks up from his textbook, pen caught between his teeth.





	break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored

**Author's Note:**

> BIT OF A LONG ONE:  
> hello, long time no see. so I've started a new mazlek fit haahhh, this one will be multi chap, dunno how many chapters but i hope y'all are excited when i announce its a fake dating fic (because every fandom needs one). this fic includes joe's father, mother and brother (i've decided to exclude his older sister), i doubt that i'll name his parents in the actual writing because although im using their names for fiction, i don't intend to disrespect them in any way. so ill 99% stick with mother/father. i hope you guys understand my decision!  
> this was another spur of the moment thing, im working hard at this, hope you're excited!
> 
> if you've any suggestions or things you wanna see in this series, please dont hesitant to comment it! im completely open for you guys to request seeing things, after all they need activities to do over thanksgiving!!! and this hasn't been completed yet :B
> 
> also please keep in mind that im attempting to write about americans in america, and i cannot relate to either of those things - i also don't have a beta so im so sorry if some of you americans cringe at all my inaccuracies lmao
> 
> (also title from ariana grande, but i dont exactly stan that song or the meaning behind it - im just in for the title words) ok shit yes go off and read

“This might be super weird, and it’s totally cool if you say no, but I was uh—“

“Interest is wavering.”

Joe swallows quickly, “Was wondering if you would come back to mine for Thanksgiving, with… me.”

Rami looks up from his textbook, pen caught between his teeth. Joe doesn’t let his eyes linger. “Is that a question?”

Joe nods at him, who’s form is hunched over his desk, thin paper slipping through thick fingers. They were only two hours into studying, a lonely pizza box thrown beside Rami’s table leg in haste, and so far Joe hadn’t succeeded in memorising any of his Theatre revision. He _had_ been receiving phone calls daily from his mother though, voice whining on the other end, always asking when he was going to bring home someone for the break — which brought Joe to the realisation that his time was running out.

Lucy had been first on the list, well, to be fair she was the only one on his list. After hours of hyping himself up in front of the bathroom mirror, Lucy politely declined his offer, much to Joe’s disappointment. She did wrap an arm around his shoulders, press a red cup of alcohol into his palm and suggest Joe ask his roommate; his male, attentive, confident, easy-going roommate. Joe only prays she couldn’t feel the way he tensed against her side.

Now, with one week left to convince a girl from one of his classes to pack their bags and go meet his parents, and little hope in doing so, Joe’s decided to give Rami a shot.

“You want me to come back with you?” he repeats, lips curling up into a charming grin. Joe’s stomach is close to hitting the ground.

“Yeah. I’m kinda desperate.”

Rami drops his pen suddenly, letting it scatter across the wooden desk noisily. Joe watches as he twists around in his chair and scans the room frantically. Taking in their decorated walls; the creased Jurassic Park poster taped up above Joe’s bed, embarrassingly matching the colour of his sheets, and Rami’s side table covered in overlapping junk, a multitude of Pride pamphlets and audition times. Together they’ve managed to create an entirely new atmosphere, it’s what Joe’s begun referring to as _their_  home _._

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for spy cameras.”

Joe laughs, relieved to take some of the pressure off his chest, “Why would you be doing that?”

“Because this has got to be some sort of joke.” Joe’s face drops, “A dare.”

“Why?”

Rami picks his pen back up for safe measures, fiddles with the cap, flicking it off and then squeezing it back on, a routine. Joe’s hypnotised by the movement, focusing on that rather than the underlying nausea he feels threading its way through his intestines. This isn’t going well. “You’re in need of someone to go home with you to see your parents, right? And you’re coming to me, out of everyone on campus? That’s…” Rami’s smile is soft, he’s good enough at acting for Joe to know he’s picking his expression carefully, “That’s surely a joke.”

“No, I’m not kidding. I want you to.”

Rami cocks an eyebrow, “Want me, or need me?”

Joe huffs, taking a step back towards their door. Through the doubt, Joe had still somehow seen an outcome where Rami would agree, open his wardrobe and start chucking shirts at Joe’s head, _let’s get on with it, then,_ he’d say, clapping Joe on the shoulder and grabbing his car keys on the way out. Today just wasn’t his day.

Before Joe can close his hand around the knob, Rami shuts his book with a slap, “Alright, calm down. At least tell me who else you’ve begged.”

Joe turns around stiffly and leans his spine against the door. “Only Lucy, who obviously—“

“—said no. Yeah, I can see that.” Rami finishes for him, and earns a glare.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’d already got her eyes on someone, she’d never pretend to be your girlfriend.”

Joe’s suddenly choking, fingers flying before his face in stuttered defence, “I never—you don’t have to pretend to be my anything, I just need, my mum wants to see that I—“

Rami walks over to his bed and reaches down to slide out his suitcase from beneath, “Let’s be real, you want to show someone off to your parents. They’re expecting someone, second year of college?” Rami clicks his tongue, “Surely you’d have secured someone by now.”

Is that why Rami responded the way he did, he thought Joe was asking for him to _be_ with him for his parents sake? Well, almost, if he’d had the balls he’d have asked that directly. But he had assumed Rami would be repulsed by the idea, they’re close friends.

“That’s a bit harsh,” he laughs nervously, ears burning, it comes out sounding like a giggle and Joe wants to cup his mouth, “But if we’re being honest, then yeah, they really are. Mum won’t shut up about it.”

“And you want me to pose as your boyfriend to satisfy them.”

Joe's convinced that hearing those words come from Rami will be the end of him, it quite honestly almost is. He can’t feel his own face anymore, his body is steadily going numb. Whether it’s a coping mechanism or just due to plain humiliation, Joe's losing control over himself. He has the option to open his mouth and let out a mumbling mess of an explanation, but Joe doesn’t think he could stand the look on Rami’s face when he sees him breaking down over this. Instead, he forces his chin into a curt nod and shrugs his shoulders.

Rami’s over at his wardrobe now, perhaps Joe _had_ predicted the future. He’s reaching towards the top shelf, high on his tip-toes and giving Joe an incredible view of the sliver of brown skin that peeks out at him from underneath his hoodie. Joe’s scared he’s about to swallow his own tongue. There’d be no point in walked over to help, they’re basically the same height.

“So, you’re going to do it?”

Rami looks over his shoulder, hands still actively grappling for items of clothing, “Is there anyone else willing to help?”

“No.” Joe admits slowly.

“Then I’m your man.”

“Your family won’t be pissed that you’re skipping this Thanksgiving?”

Rami snickered. “You think my family celebrates it? God no. It’s just another excuse for me to leave campus and go see them.”

 _Except this time you won’t be seeing them,_ Joe feels guilt gripping at his core. He doesn’t want to take this away from Rami, the chance to see his whole family again, he’s aware that Rami has two other siblings — and all because Joe needs to prove to his own mother that he’s capable of being in a relationship. Which, in his case, still isn’t true. One point to his own mother.

He’d had a fling at the beginning of summer, her name he couldn’t quite place anymore. He’d tried hard to forget about her, it wasn’t that she was a bad person, she was far from it. But it was become one of Joe’s friends pointed out during the first week of dating that she bared a certain resemblance to his roommate. They both had their fair share of thick brown locks, eyes that never seemed to stay the same colour, even the plump upper lip that Joe’s always so utterly distracted by. It was too close for comfort.

That was the final straw for him, to have considered seriously dating a girl that looked far too much like Rami. It was also when he discovered his own infatuation with the man, how he dangerously occupied most of his thoughts during class, how Joe would lay awake some nights, eyes open and daring himself to look over at the dark shape on the opposite side of the room. It wasn’t that he was attracted to him — sure, Rami was _attractive_ — but Joe found himself endlessly intrigued by him in an envious sense, he believed. His personality, his charisma, the way he speaks with that slurred lisp, how he could get along with anyone and everyone so easily and despite living with him for almost two whole years; he still remained a mystery to Joe. Whether this kind of attachment to his roommate was healthy, Joe didn’t elaborate, didn’t want to.

Rami zipped his case closed and moved it back to let it rest against his bed frame. They had another few days on campus before they were given permission to leave for break, but Rami was known for being organised. For now, he had to get back to studying. Rami slipped back into his desk chair and picked up where he left off. Joe felt frozen by the door, fingernails digging into the wood.

“You gonna finish your revision before games, or do you just wanna stand there?” Rami muttered without looking over, his back turned towards Joe so he couldn’t see his expression. But based off his tone, he was deadpanning, back into his concentrating mindset. Games night, Joe almost forgot, they’re due to meet up in Gwilym’s dorm later and go crazy on his ancient Nintendo 64.

“Yep, okay.” Joe says hurriedly, stalking back to his own desk.

Rami’s is pushed up against the wall at the foot-end of his bed, whereas Joe’s is between the two of their beds, right below the window. They’d fought over it at first, badly wanting the natural light after hearing graduates tell stories about how reading in the dark will ruin eyes forever. Rami took one for the team and reluctantly gave it away to Joe, whom he hadn’t known very well at the time. Joe supposes he’d made the right decision to take the desk further away from their beds, it was sometimes a pain to have his work space right by his sleeping space, it was also excruciating to look up late at night once Rami had gone to bed and be given the liberty to stare at his peaceful face while he tried not to crush the multi-coloured pen in his hand.

He _is_  borderline creepy. Joe had admitted that to himself already during the first few weeks; when he’d subconsciously side-eye Rami after he’d come out from the shower, towel wrapped tightly around his lean waist. Joe had been caught once too, and Rami had frowned with a smile when he saw, gave Joe a twirl and struck pose on the landing, all the while Joe had tried to hide his blushing face behind his textbook, laughing humourlessly. He’d poked at the moment for days afterwards, teasing, prodding for an explanation that Joe wasn’t able to give. Joe was too old to bullshit himself though, he felt it deep down, the gut-punching realisation of a high school crush disguised as admiration. He didn’t blame himself, he was challenged with having Rami Malek as his roommate — anyone would fall down the same rabbit hole.

Hours later, once Joe had crammed his overloaded brain with more information, Rami sneaks up behind him and hooks his arm around Joe’s neck, gripping strongly. He squeals loudly in surprise.

“We’ve all started without you, idiot. Hurry up.”

Rami’s voice is calm and collected, with a hint of jest behind it — it’s right by the side of his head, hot air passing over the shell of his ear. _Ignore it, just ignore it._ _Don't react._ Joe reaches for his iPod to check the time, he was expected in Gwil’s dorm twenty minutes ago. He twists in Rami’s hold and elbows him in the middle, getting him to release with a huff and step back to give Joe space.

He’s smiling when he looks up at Rami, “You left without me.”

“I called your name five times, you were gone to the world, dude.”

“I was being productive.” he grabs a looseleaf sheet from behind him without looking and waves it in front of his face. “See.”

Rami bursts out laughing, snatching the paper from Joe’s grip before he can turn it around to examine what he’d picked up. “I _can_ see. Very effective study technique.” Joe reaches for it, whining about wanting to see what’s on the front, Rami flips it around to present a number of doodles overlaying valuable course information. It’s of an extremely buff man with a massive cock spilling out over where Joe’s written his name in the top corner, he’s posed like a body builder. “Finally learning male anatomy?”

Joe’s choking again, gawking at the illustration. The memory of watching Ben out he corner of his eye scribbling away at his sheet makes sense now. At the time, he’d assumed he was only colouring in the spaces between letters, as every student does when they’re not listening. He’d tucked it away in his folder right as class ended, not bothering to actually see what he’d drawn, and must have missed it since.

“I didn’t—that’s not mine!”

“No?” Rami brings it closer to his face and muffles his laugh with his palm, “Who’s it of?”

“Definitely not." Joe stands up to take the drawing back, he needed the guidelines on the actual form anyway. "Probably our professor.” he says dully, looking down at Ben’s art. It’s really quite detailed, ball hairs and all. Joe can’t help but let his lips curve into a smile, _crazy kid._

Rami hums while crossing over his arms, “Looks like someone’s got the hots for his teacher.” he says.

Baffled, Joe slaps him on the shoulder. “Shut up! Ben drew it, not me.”

“Sure thing, Picasso.”

Rami’s halfway out the door by the time Joe’s tucked the sheet beneath all his work, hiding it from the public. God knows what would happen to his reputation if it got into the wrong hands, for all anyone could know Joe draws soft porn of his teachers during class. That is not something he’d want going around campus.

“C’mon, they’ll have you banished by the time you finally show up.”

Joe closes their door behind himself.

 

* * *

 

Joe doesn’t bring it up until Rami volunteers to go with Gwil to buy more refreshments. When it’s only Ben and Joe lounging on their couch. They’ve got space for a small coffee table and TV in the corner of their dorm since it’s not just two boys living there, but four instead. Ben came last, he’s still a first year but the dean couldn’t find space for him to live with students of his own age, so he was thrown into a mix of rowdy second-years with very little hope of graduating. Ben fits in excellently.

“Thanks for that drawing, by the way.”

Ben’s eyes are trained on the screen before them, focused on Peach in her pixilated, pink, little kart. “Which one?”

“The one of Prof. May, spot-on detail might I add.” Joe remarks sarcastically, his thumbs work hard at dodging a green shell.

Ben laughs loudly and Joe finds it amazing how he can hear the British lilt even then. “I’m glad you like it, took all lesson.”

“Yeah, gonna frame it, now Rami thinks I’m in love with our teacher.”

Ben shrugs, “‘Least now he doesn’t think you’re in love with _him_.”

Onscreen he hits a banana peel, the sorrowful sound effect fills the room. Ben continues the race, tackling the controller with full strength. Joe’s staring at his side profile, mouth agape in shock. The game music envelopes his situation distantly.

“What do you mean?”

Ben still doesn’t look at him. “Well, if you wanted to make sure he didn’t suspect anything, it’d be smart to lead him onto thinking you’re into older men.”

Joe leans back from Ben, eyebrows knitted together, his chest is too tight. Everything feels a little bit out of place, he’d never crossed this territory with anyone, never spoken about these kinds of things. He doesn’t know to react, how would an innocent person respond to something like that?

“Why the hell do you think I’m into any kind of men?” he’s trying his hardest to stir Ben away.

“Whoa, chillax.” Ben glances at Joe quickly, “I’m cool with it all, don’t feel embarrassed.”

 _Feeling embarrassed is only the beginning,_ Joe retorts stiffly. He doesn’t know what to do with his body, he feels clumsy, inexperienced with this kind of conversation — he’d never needed to speak about this with anyone. How is he supposed to sit when they talk about this?

“I’m not in love with him, that’s a bit excessive.” he says, finally. He stays quiet, aware that the other’s could return at any minute. _And I definitely don’t like men._ Rami’s become a sort of exception, he’s classified into his own gender, his own class; because he’s unlike anyone Joe has ever met before. And Joe knows that he’s never going to come across someone like Rami ever again, he’s desperate to hold onto this man for as long as possible before it’s time for them both to move on with their lives.

“Sure, _like_ him then,” Ben’s smiles cheekily, “Like him a bit more than the rest of us.”

Joe wants to take his face into his hands and squash Ben’s cheeks in so far that he won’t be able to speak anymore, instead he’d bubble like a baby and be forced to communicate through gestures. The truth behind his words are almost painful for Joe to hear, they’re so forward, brutal even. He’d only said these things to himself mentally, never aloud, to hear them vocalised is a large step for him. Possibly a step towards acceptance.

“Yeah, so what?”  
“Don’t get defensive, it’s natural. May not last longer than this year, you never know.”

Joe finds himself believing Ben easily, so far he’s the only other opinion Joe’s heard on this topic. It’s the two of them against the world. He doesn’t even stop to wonder why or how Ben would know stuff about same sex attraction, but he listens intently — though pouts and pretends he couldn’t give two shits.

Has he… just come out to Ben Hardy? Joe thinks so.

“Why’d you care so much anyway? It was just a drawing, a bloody good one at that.”

Joe relaxes back into the couch, he brings his attention back to the screen and the fact that he’s an entire lap behind everyone else now. He takes a deep breath, “He agreed to come back for Thanksgiving with me, didn’t want him to think I drew unnecessarily graphic pictures of my teacher while he tries to teach me.” he tries to end it on a joke, intending for his blonde friend to laugh, but Ben sees straight through to the core.

“You invited him back to meet your family?”

Joe ignores the shock in his voice. “Yeah, mum’s been begging for me to for a long time.” He never should have chosen Bowser, he’s agonisingly slow, as is this entire conversation. Joe finds himself wishing Rami would come back now so that he wouldn’t have to surrender to any more questions that he doesn’t want to admit the answers to.

Ben speaks slowly, “Does that mean that you’re already dating?”

“No, no, no way.” Joe wonders how he can word this right so that it makes even the tiniest bit of sense, “He—we’re pretending.”

Suddenly Ben’s shaking with laughter, it fills the entire dorm. Joe can feel it vibrating through the couch, but he doesn’t join in, instead he puts his controller down and buries his face between the folds of his jumper.

“I know, I know it’s stupid.” he groans, face mushed back into his clothes. The controller has been abandoned once again, resting on Joe’s thigh. Ben doesn’t stop gaming though, Joe supposes he’s a good multitasker.

“It’s not…” Ben tilts his head and lets out a single laugh, “Well, no, it is kinda stupid. Sounds like something out of a romance book.”

Joe folds his knees up towards his chest and pushes him further back into the couch crease. “What else was I supposed to do? They’ve been waiting for this moment all their lives, the day their eldest son brought home someone for Thanksgiving break, they take it so seriously.” He’s running his hand through his hair at this point, worrying at the knots and wondering when the last time he’d had it cut. His rusty locks cover his nape completely, his hair has turned into a mop.

Joe thinks Ben senses a shift in the conversation, he pauses the game and positions his body on the couch so that he’d facing Joe a little more. Joe looks at Ben watching him with green eyes, and distantly comments to himself on how complicated the colours are.

“Someone? They don’t care whether it’s a boy or girl?” he asks.

Joe looks at the ceiling for a moment, “I guess not. They’ve never really given me that talk, the _we love you no matter what_ one. They’re just desperate for me to commit myself into a long-term relationship.”

“Pushy with kids, I assume.”

Joe laughs, surprising himself, “Almost there, wait another ten years and I won’t hear the end of it. Never stop complaining.” They’re trailing back into more familiar territory now, complaining about his parents and their want for Joe to grow up as fast as possible.

“Won’t be if you bring home a man.”

Joe’s heart skips a beat. It’s _hearing_ it. He’s stuck on the response, he knows that when he opens his mouth the only thing to come out will be a strangled noise, which will confirm what Ben’s said. Time has slowed, Joe feels like he’s been gaping at Ben for a solid ten minutes, but Joe’s only counted two blinks from his blonde friend. _Speak, say something quickly._

“I don’t know,” he’s trying his damn hardest to sound paced, “I needed someone to come back with me, Rami agreed and that’s that. It all works out.”

“Except for the part where you two need to act as if you’ve been dating for a year. Long-term, remember?” Ben points out, finger picking at his back molar. _Shit,_ Joe hadn’t really thought about that. They’re going to be expected to know everything about each other,.

“We’ve lived together for that time, maybe it won’t be as hard as you think.” Joe’s unsure of his own words.

He _does_ know a lot about his roommate; knows what time he usually gets up in the morning, when he’s most likely to want to go to bed, knows that he pours milk first like an alien, how long he usually showers for (pretends he doesn’t), to order for half their pizza to have extra olives. He and Joe have tiptoed around each other for their entire college lives, they’ve created their own unspoken routine when it comes to living together, they work with one another without really thinking about it. But that doesn’t calm Joe’s doubt that his parent’s will be able to tell it’s fake, they’ve seen real love, they _have_ it. It shouldn’t be that hard to mimic how they interact with each other, but he doesn’t have a reference until he gets back to New York. Until then, Joe and Rami are going to have to exercise their improvisation skills — which shouldn’t be difficult considering their studies.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Ben laughs out his nose, smiling widely at Joe, “Still can’t believe you two are going through with this. If your parents find out they’re gonna freak.”

“Is it too crazy?” Joe worries, “Should I just go alone?”

Ben clicks his tongue, “Up to you, you two can definitely pull it off.”

 _Is it necessary?_ Is what Joe knows Ben wants to ask, but won’t. He’s been questioning him relentlessly since Rami and Gwil left, the conversation has slowed, they’ve gotten to the bottom of things, he’s afraid to push any further, Joe understands. But he’s questioning that himself.

Joe doesn’t want to remember all the times he’s let his parents down, all the times they’ve smiled adoringly at him whenever he brought a girlfriend home back in high school, how shaded their faces looked when he tried to explain why they only lasted two weeks. It never lasted, Joe had always wondered why, he was beginning to think he’d found the answer. Now, he was given the opportunity to bring home anyone, he’s got the chance to transition to boys without anyone making a big fuss because it’s a family get-together, no one’s allowed to say anything controversial. He’ll be entirely off the hook, and he wants this. He does want his family to accept him, this seems like the easiest route to a new life.

Plus, Rami’s already packed, he wouldn’t want to be rude and ask him to undo all his work. _That’s the excuse,_ he thinks.

“Okay. I’m gonna do it.”

“Good on you!” A new voice calls from the doorway, Joe and Ben turn sharply and stare from over the back of the couch.

“Allen, you scared the shit outta me.” Ben says breathily, he pats the space beside him, furthest from Joe. “Come play Mario Kart with us.”

Allen strolls over to sink down next to Ben, “Still using this old thing, huh?” he says, picking up another controller and plugging it into the Nintendo 64, he takes it out again to blow in the port when it doesn’t recognise him as a new player, “Thought this broke months ago.”

“We play every week, dumbo.”

Joe doesn’t join in, he sits still, sweating beneath his hoodie. His heart had come to a stop when he heard Allen’s voice, mind instantly jumping to the worst conclusion that Rami had eavesdropped the entire time Joe was talking to Ben about him. He wonders how that would have ended if it’d been Rami, if he’d heard Joe silently confirm Ben’s suspicions of his pining, if he’d found out that Joe was actually more open than he’d thought.

Allen recaptures Joe’s attention by hitting the controller with the curve of his palm, “Yep, never mind, it is broken.”

“Is not, pass here.” Ben hisses, grabbing at the hard plastic in Allen’s hands. While he fiddles around with the joystick and the main port, Joe lets himself disappear into the couch. He doesn’t feel like socialising anymore, he’d much rather go to bed and get ready for class tomorrow, he’s got an early lecture. But Rami and Gwil haven’t come back yet, and Joe knows they would be hoping for at least one more cup of Mario Kart now that Allen’s here too. “Where were you off to anyway?”

“Helping Jess revise. Information really sticks for her when there’s someone to quiz her.” he says proudly, playing with a tendril of his dirty blonde hair. If it were any other night, Joe would have slapped him in the arm and teased him for being soft for his girlfriend, but tonight was different; Joe wanted to hear more about his relationship. It was as if he was suddenly interested in healthy companionships.

“Lucky her, think she’ll do good?” Ben finally gets the controller set up, he passes it back over to Allen.

“For sure. She’s a genius at the sorta stuff, I can hardly understand a word she’s saying when I help out.”

Joe hides his yawn in the crook of his elbow. He’s glad his hoodie is so oversized, he’s drowning in the warm material — it’s almost as if he’s not in the room anymore. Ben and Allen aren’t focused on him anymore, though Joe has a hunch that Ben could be watching him out the corner of his eye. Now that he knows something so vulnerable about Joe, and only him, Joe senses that he’s intrigued to see how the whole ordeal will end up. As is he.

“We’re back!” Gwil’s voice erupts from the front door.

Joe can hear the two of them fussing around with plastic bags against the kitchen bench, he leaves Ben and Allen playing on the couch and goes to join them, “Took you forever, what’d you get?”

Rami smiles widely at him and Joe ignores the way his pulse races, he holds up a two litre bottle of strawberry milk, “Only the necessities.” Joe’s forced to grin back—despite the sinking feeling of his stomach that would cause him to wince otherwise—and wonders haphazardly whether or not he will be able to make it through the next few weeks of break with Rami constantly by his side. If they do pull through, it will mark as the longest period of time the two have consecutively spent together. Joe’s got no other experience to base the upcoming trip off, he’s got no references, no pre-game of trial and error, nothing to reassure him of how smoothly it could go; how smoothly he wants it to go. No strings attached kind of smooth. For now, he’s left to cross his fingers and hope.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for making it through this chapter! also thank you in advance if you leave kudos/comments and/or bookmark this stories - it means the world to me, and you guys encourage me every step of the way :) i absolutely love writing for this pairing.\
> 
> pssssttt.... dont forget to give me some suggestions on cliche cute things these soon-to-be fake boyfriends can do over break!!!!


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